Soft Shock
by Katsumi the miko
Summary: A call from Leon with unexpected news leaves Claire anxious and worried about her friendship with Ada. Luckily Jill is there to provide some sound advice. One-shot. A short story set in my Wesker's Angels Universe.


AN:** I wrote this to get some pesky feels out of my system. They were bothering me for days, even reappearing months after they started, but the worst has passed. I'm hoping that writing them out will help me understand what was happening and put things in perspective. I call it writing therapy.**

**Also, this story is in the Wesker's Angels universe (which I have neglected . . . .), so if you wonder why some people are cohabitating, look at the related skits I wrote. It'll start to make sense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil, or its characters. I'm just borrowing them while I figure out some issues.**

* * *

Claire sat in the facility's living area, messing around on her laptop as she tried to stave off boredom. Jill was away, presumably having a low-key date night with Chris. Krauser was most likely lifting weights in the gym; Claire had no desire to disturb him. HUNK was nowhere to be found, and Claire wasn't interested in going to look for him. Irving was probably taking the night off; the lack of his presence was the reason the TV wasn't on. Excella had gone on vacation, thank goodness. The younger Redfield guessed that Wesker was in his office, as usual. But Ada was nowhere to be found, and this concerned Claire; Ada didn't take the evening to herself unless she was having a bath. Despite the spy's somewhat standoffish attitude, she still enjoyed being around people. It was rare for the Asian-american woman to spend evenings by herself unless she had something important on her mind. "Chill out, Claire," the Redfield told herself, "Maybe she's just on a solo mission."

Claire's phone beeped, signaling a new text message. The redhead picked up the device to see who the message came from, thankful for a moment of socialization.

It was Leon. He and Claire weren't together, but they had friendly conversations when they weren't arranging something between TerraSave and the government. Claire opened the message. _"Got a couple of minutes to catch up?" _the message read, _"Give me a call when you have spare time."_

Claire blinked at the message. It was typical of Leon to be a stickler about grammar, even with text messages and the internet, but this message sounded different. He never started conversations unless it was strictly business; oftentimes Claire contacted him first. Something was fishy here...

Claire skipped replying with her own text and hit the 'Call' button on her phone, holding the device to her ear. She needed to know what was going on, pronto.

Leon picked up almost immediately. "Claire," he started, "nice to know you're in a nearby timezone."

Claire briefly smiled at the comment, but resumed to business. "Hey Leon," she replied, "What's up?"

She could hear Leon sigh over the other end. Judging by the sound of colliding billiard balls and music in the background, the agent was in one of his favorite bars that he used to get away from the world. "There's no new assignments, fundraisers, or viral outbreaks going on in my part of the world," he explained. "What about you?"

"Nothing exciting happening tonight. Everyone's on their own tonight, except for Jill," Claire replied. Leon was silent, making the redhead even little more antsy by the moment. ". . . There's more for you to say, isn't there?" she added as she picked up a can of soda to take a swig.

"I've given up on Ada."

Claire choked on her soda, luckily avoiding spewing any onto the leather sofa. She'd be saddled with the cleaning bill if she did. "What?!" she shouted into the phone, "Leon, you've been chasing her for almost twenty years now! Has all that fancy shampoo gone to your head and made you change your mind?!"

"She's romantically interested in someone else," Leon explained, "The only reason I have to follow her anymore is for information."

Claire sat on the couch with her jaw hanging open. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. It had to be one of Ada's tricks of the trade and Leon had misinterpreted it. "Leon, you can either go after her, or find another fish," Claire tried to console the agent, despite her own thoughts racing; the younger Redfield had to find out what was going on. "Are you sure this person she's with is not just an acquaintance?"

"It doesn't matter. That guy she's with looks to be the real deal; I don't have a chance."

Claire bit her cheek, trying to keep herself calm. Leon wasn't telling her enough; she had to find out what was REALLY going on. "Uhh... Sorry Leon, I gotta go. I have some baking to get out of the oven," she lied nervously, "Bye!"

The younger Redfield hung up on Leon and tried to organize her thoughts. This wasn't possible. It had to be a hoax. Just another one of Ada's tricks to get closer to her target, right? But then again, Ada would have found some way to warn the younger girl that she was going to go on a mission. It wasn't like Ada to steal away without warning unless she was doing something she didn't want other people to know about. And it wasn't like her to commit to a romantic relationship, either! This was far unlike the Ada that Claire had become good friends with over their time as Angels. If the Asian-american really had entered a committed relationship, something had to be going on. But the bigger issue that entered Claire's mind was who the guy Ada was 'supposedly' seeing was.

Claire reached for her cell phone again, but stopped at the memory of Ada's warning of not to call while she was on a mission unless it was a serious emergency. This situation didn't exactly register as an emergency in Claire's mind, but it was a crisis. And a crisis would have to wait until Ada came home.

The Redfield girl spent the next several minutes on the sofa, feeling every single anxious thought she could come up with swirl through her head as she waited. Finally, the window caught two beams of light. Claire jumped to her feet and ran to the window. A car had pulled up to the facility. Hiding behind the curtain, she watched as the driver exited the car.

"Looks like Ada's back," the redhead thought as she exited the car. Then the passenger-side door opened, and a familiar blond head came into sight. "With Wesker? This has got to be a hoax," Claire's internal commentary continued as she watched the duo walk up to the front door. Once in the doorway, Wesker stopped and began talking. Claire was unable to hear what was being spoken from her vantage point and terrible at lip-reading, but she could still witness everything. Whatever her boss was saying, Ada was listening closely. The Asian-american woman stepped closer to him. After several seconds, their lips met, and Claire's world was shattered.

Claire hadn't heard Jill come in hours later. The young Redfield made no move to greet her longtime friend from her curled up position on the couch.

"Claire, I'm home. In case you were wondering, my date with Chris went well. We found this hole-in-the-wall Italian place that served the best-" Jill's story was cut off by soft weeping. "Claire? Are you crying?" The older woman walked around to the other side of the couch and knelt down next to the sniffling redhead. "Claire? What's wrong?" Claire didn't answer. "Are you hurt? Please tell me what's wrong."

"A-Ada," Claire choked out, "and Wesker- I saw them."

"Ada and Wesker? What were they doing?" Jill asked.

"They were t-together, like a couple."

"And it wasn't an undercover mission?" Claire nodded. "Hoo boy," Jill whispered under her breath, "Well, it's not the worst thing that could happen, assuming Wesker isn't planning something. Is that what's making you so sad, Claire?"

Claire shook her head. "It's just- Now that Ada's with Wesker, what will happen to the team? I'm worried that Ada will leave the team and nothing will be the same again," the younger Redfield added before giving another sob.

"Claire," Jill hushed her, rubbing a hand up and down the younger woman's shoulder. "Nothing's going to change. Ada will still be working with us. She'll just be spending more time with Wesker than usual."

"And what if she starts caring more about Wesker than us?! I don't want to be abandoned and replaced by him!"

"She won't," Jill reassured, "Her relationship with us is going to be the same, but the relationship between her and Wesker is going to be a little different. From what I've seen, you and Ada have become very good friends. You don't have to worry about being replaced in her life."

Claire looked up at Jill, revealing puffy, reddened eyes. "Really?"

"Promise," the older woman said, offering a box of tissues, "Is there anything else bothering you?"

Claire took a tissue, cleaned herself up, and tried to gather her thoughts. "It's just that- I want someone to truly love me. Is that too much to ask?" Back when she was a student, Claire hadn't really cared about intimate relationships much. Those thoughts changed in college, when she saw so many happy couples around her, but it appeared no one was interested. She had considered Leon shortly after Raccoon city. But Ada had appeared and he was hooked. Months later she had met Steve, but she was too preoccupied with fighting Umbrella and getting out alive to even think about a relationship until it was too late. Since then no other men had influenced her like Steve and Leon did. So she decided to stop looking, claiming that she was "married to her work". But seeing Ada and Wesker together had been a shot to the heart. Her emotions set off a tornado in her chest, her thoughts whirring and spinning and overwhelming her, wrecking havoc on her thoughts.

"It isn't too much," Jill replied, offering another tissue. "You'll find a special someone one day, Claire. You'll have to be brave, and patient. Heck, I was lucky to find your brother, and that took some courage. Your time will come eventually, and you'll meet someone who thinks you're absolutely perfect."

"And what if that time doesn't come?" Claire asked, "I don't want to be living by myself for the rest of my life."

"You could get cats."

"Jill!"

The older woman laughed. "Sorry. Had to make that joke," she apologized.

Claire set aside her indignation. "Anyway, at this rate I'm not sure if I'll have a real chance at a relationship," she explained.

"Why's that?"

The younger Redfield shrugged. "Either all the guys I like go after someone better than me, or . . . something bad happens. People have a habit of getting hurt around us, or worse," she said, her mind turning to Antarctica.

"We can't really help the unexpected deaths," Jill spoke. "But as for the other guys-" she scoffed, "that just means they aren't right for you. C'mon Claire, you're clever, tough, and survived multiple zombie outbreaks while taking care of a kid! All before your thirties! They're total idiots to pass you up for someone else!"

Claire smiled a little as she dabbed her eyes with another tissue. "And Leon?"

"Well, I think even Ada would agree that Leon has his idiot moments," Jill admitted. The redhead laughed a little in reply. Now that Ada was out of his mind, maybe Leon could finally man up and go for a real relationship. "Feeling better?" the former policewoman asked.

Claire nodded. "Much better."

"Right." Jill stood and began walking around the couch. "I'm going to work out a little bit. You wanna join me? Take some frustration out on a punching bag?"

Claire shook her head. "Nah. I think Krauser's still down there," she said, "you go ahead." The older woman grinned, leaned down to quickly ruffle the Redfield's hair, and continued to the door. "Hey Jill," the younger woman spoke again. The former STARS looked back to find Claire leaning over the back of the sofa. "I'm glad I could talk this out with you," the Redfield added, "I think you're the only one here who could understand what's going on in my head right now and not tell me I'm being a total baby about it."

"What about HUNK?"

"Yeah, I doubt he would be able to give good advice on this matter short of shooting someone."

Jill gave a soft chuckle. "Why not talk to Ada herself?" she asked in reply.

Claire sighed and looked to the ground. "To be honest, the thought of doing that is a little scary," she admitted. "I'm not sure how she'll react. I don't want her to think I'm a selfish, over-possessive psycho! I want her to be happy, but- I'm not!"

"You're not psycho, Claire," Jill reassured. "It's totally natural to have those sorts of feelings when something like this happens. Just let them play out and cut yourself some slack, alright?"

"Alright," the Redfield woman sighed, returning to her normal position that took up two-thirds of the couch. "But if Ada winds up dead, Wesker's going to have to answer to me!"

"Maybe even both of us! Good night, Claire," Jill chuckled before exiting the room. It seemed that everything would be okay after all.


End file.
